How's the Turakian Age working out for you?

[Savinien]

Re: How's the Turakian Age working out for you?

 

So... uh... Hermit.

 

You ever get what you needed?

 

If you can't tell I'm mining TA stuff today.

[runescience]

Re: How's the Turakian Age working out for you?

 

Killer shrike has a great norse/viking setup. Check those out. Probably easily integrated into your setting.

 

Hmmmm.....Turakian Age sounds interesting. I've been trying to create my own world but it's time I faced the cold hard truth - I just don't have the time to do it. So, that leaves me with three questions about TA.

 

1 Is the setting usable if the underground civilizations are sent packin'? With the obvious exception of Dwarves, I absolutely detest underground kingdoms.

 

2 What about Vikings? Every review I've seen makes no mention of Vikings.

I have to have freakin' Vikings! If there are no Vikings, can they be easily inserted into the setting without a lot of rework on existing material?

 

3 From what I have read, it seems that there is quite a bit of detail. Is there still room to modify and adjust things to suite my particular GM tastes?

 

Sorry to threadjack.

 

Who am I kidding - I'm not really sorry.

[MorpheousXO]

Re: How's the Turakian Age working out for you?

 

TA is definitely on my TO BUY list (since I read GA's review), mainly as a source of inspiration since I've decided that I SHALL be creating my own setting... which so far is only a few things that are only in my head, need to actually sit down with it.

[Lord Liaden]

Re: How's the Turakian Age working out for you?

 

I apologise for the thread necromancy, but I've recently been reading The Turakian Age in detail, and find discussions of the setting interesting, especially if I now have something to contribute.

 

2 What about Vikings? Every review I've seen makes no mention of Vikings.

I have to have freakin' Vikings! If there are no Vikings, can they be easily inserted into the setting without a lot of rework on existing material?

 

Between the northernmost civilized kingdoms and the looming menace of Turakia in the far north, there's a lot of savage/wilderness area under the general heading of Wilderland, which Steve Long deliberately left undefined and vaguely described so a GM could fill it in as he sees fit. IMO this would be an ideal area to place a Viking-analogue culture. I would recommend the large region north of the Bright River and Khepras, east of the Ergun-Ulan Mountains, and south of the Silent Mountains. It's northerly in climate but not uninhabitable, and has lots of coastline on the eastern ocean, with thousands of miles of civilized seafront to the south to pillage. From what I've read the presence of such a culture there wouldn't affect the rest of the setting signficantly.

 

Regarding Hermit's thread-starting post, if I were to use TA as the setting for a campaign (which I haven't yet but am tempted to), I would probably base it in Mitharia. That continent is smaller and less overwhelmingly diverse than its neighbor Arduna, but still contains a notably broad range of topography, nations, races, and cultures, from mainstream Medieval Europe-inspired ones, to more exotic Oriental-style locales. It also has one major menace in the expansionistic Empire of Orumbar, which while not as epic as Kal-Turak still threatens the security and stability of all Mitharia.

[Lord Liaden]

Vikings!

 

Regarding the issue of Vikings in Ambrethel raised above, for which there is no cultural analogue explicitly described in the TA sourcebook, I humbly believe I've just been gifted with inspiration.

 

The Skaalshar (or "Skalshaar" depending on which TA page your read) Mountain range in the far north of Arduna, populated with "frost giants and snow trolls," is also proximate to a long coastline on the Sea of Ice, which on the map appears littered with fjords for potential anchorage. Nothing's stopping the trolls and giants from settling on the sea shore; why can't some of them go viking each spring? The ethnic/cultural precedent would seem to apply.

 

The Skaalshar folk could raid Khirkovy, Vestria, the Mhendarian Palatinate, perhaps as far as northern Mitharia. That would add a threat (and adventure potential) to what's otherwise among the more stable and secure regions of Ambrethel.

 

Imagine the terror of coastal communities when giant-sized longships appear on the horizon.

[Lord Liaden]

Re: How's the Turakian Age working out for you?

 

I'm thinking of running an "agents of the crown" campaign set in Ambrethel, where the PCs perform various overt or covert missions at the behest of the ruler of a realm. I think that the Sirrenic Empire would make the "good guy" patron with the most adventure potential in the setting for this type of campaign. The Empire is powerful, stable, reasonably justly governed, not especially aggressive at present for an imperial state, and even extends equal legal rights and opportunities to women. It does allow for slavery (with some legal protections for slaves), but for my campaign I would change that to the norm for the Westerlands, that people owning slaves can bring them into the country, but buying and selling them is illegal.

 

The Sirrenic Empire is surrounded by aggressive, potentially hostile neighbors: the Hargeshite Empire of Vashkor, Thalera-Saar, the Gorthunda, the Ulg-Hroi, the dragon Skarm. With its northern location it will also be one of the first nations to feel the wrath of Kal-Turak when he moves south. Even states which don't pose a direct threat to the Empire may require strategic moves on its part. Ingushel is essentially the puppet of Vashkor, and Hrastarin a potential target for Vashkoran expansion. The Dwarven kingdoms of Rodathur and Harkhonn are directly between the two empires, and may have to choose sides. Tyrandium shares a border with Thalera-Saar and is concerned over Thaleran ambitions. As a major trading nation on the Sea of Mhorec, the Sirrenic Empire has legitimate interests across most of the region. And there are some internal intrigues which might require PC intervention.